Sarah McCarthy-Fry: In a written ministerial statement on 10 October 2006, the then Economic Secretary, my right hon. Friend the Member for Normanton, (Ed Balls), undertook to report to Parliament on a quarterly basis on the operation of the UK's counter terrorism asset freezing regime.
	This is the 12th of these reports and covers the period July to September 2009(1).
	Asset-Freezing Designations
	In the quarter July to September 2009, the Treasury gave no directions under the Al-Qaida and Taliban (United Nations Measures) Order 2006. The Treasury revoked no directions given under this Order.
	The Treasury gave two directions under the Terrorism (United Nations Measures) Order 2009. None of these was in respect of individuals already designated under earlier Orders.
	There were no financial sanctions designations made at the UN, or at the EU in relation to terrorism or Al-Qaida and the Taliban of persons with links to the UK.
	As of 30 September 2009, a total of 247 accounts containing £580,000 of suspected terrorists' funds were frozen in the UK.
	Reviews under the Terrorism Order 2006
	The Treasury keeps domestic asset-freezing cases under review and completed two formal reviews this quarter; both individuals remained designated under the Terrorism Order 2006.
	Licensing
	Licensing is the means by which the UK gives effect to exemptions in asset freezing provisions whether related to UN or EC regulations or domestic terrorism legislation. Each licence is considered on a case-by-case basis, The key objective of the licensing system is to strike a balance between minimising the risk of diversion of funds to terrorism and the humanitarian rights of the individuals and third parties affected.
	Thirty-five licences were issued this quarter in relation to individuals and/or entities subject to an asset freeze under the Al-Qaida and Taliban, and Terrorism Orders.
	Litigation
	On 5 and 8 October 2009 the Supreme Court heard the case of G and Ors v HM Treasury. This challenged the legality and proportionality of the Al-Qaida (United Nation Measures) Order 2006 and the Terrorism (United Nations Measures) Order 2009. We await judgment.
	Developments
	The Terrorism (United Nations Order) 2009 came into force on 10 August 2009 and will continue to apply until August 2010 unless revoked sooner. The 2009 Order replaces and revokes the Terrorism (United Nations Order) 2006. The key aims of the amendments in the new Order are to tailor asset-freezing restrictions to ensure that the prohibitions are focused on areas of genuine operational concern, and to strengthen and make more explicit the safeguards in how the regime is operated. The key changes under the Terrorism Order 2009 include:
	safeguards that all designations must be necessary for the protection of the public;
	that designations will now expire after 12 months unless reviewed and renewed within that period; and
	modifications to the prohibitions, particularly provisions regarding the making available of funds and economic resources for the benefit of a designated person.
	(1)The detail that can be provided to the House on a quarterly basis is subject to the need to avoid the identification, directly or indirectly, of personal or operationally sensitive information.

Royal Bank of Scotland (Participation in Asset Protection Scheme)

Edward Balls: Local authorities and their representative organisations have been in discussion with us for a number of months over how best to respond to unexpected increases in demand for pupil places in primary schools.
	There has been a sustained increase in the birth rate nationally since 2001, which is now feeding through to primary schools. The Government have already made available funding to deal with projected pupil growth through allocations made to local authorities for the period 2008-09 to 2010-11.
	Local authorities, generally, have good systems in place to plan for increasing demand for pupil places. However, local authorities have told us that pupil numbers are higher than expected in some areas as a result of a combination of localised factors: changes in the housing market in the current economic climate, and also increased demand in the state sector due to better local schools and in some cases less demand for independent places. As a result it has been particularly difficult for some authorities to accurately forecast demand and plan to provide the places needed for reception-age pupils over the next few years. I commend the efforts that have been made to provide a place for every child this September.
	In July I announced that I would make available £200 million of capital to support the neediest authorities provide additional places by 2011, and invited applications. Since July there have been extensive discussions with individual authorities and with representative bodies including the Local Government Association, London Councils, and the Association of Directors of Children's Services, on how best to allocate this funding.
	As a result of these discussions we have revised the eligibility criteria and methodology for additional funding. Authorities that did not originally apply will have the opportunity to discuss with my Department whether they are eligible for funding under the revised criteria.
	I have also decided to increase the funding we are allocating to primary capital places to £300 million. Thirty-four authorities who have applied will receive additional funding, the details of which are shown in the table below. The funding announced today will create an estimated additional 15,000 new primary places. Successful local authorities will be expected to build the extra permanent places by September 2011 and money may be held back from future capital funding allocations where actual pupil numbers fall short of predictions.
	I believe it is right to give additional funding, on top of record capital investment, to build extra classrooms and facilities in areas facing sudden increases in demand which could not reasonably have been forecast. Housing children in mobile or hired classrooms is only a temporary solution-so it is vital that local authorities facing the greatest pressure on their capital budgets address these issues urgently using the funding I am now making available and in the longer-term through the primary capital programme.
	In the medium and longer terms, funding school places, and in particular responding to the increase in demand for primary school places, will be a priority from 2011, so that there is a good permanent place for every child where it is wanted. Partnerships for Schools, which since October has had responsibility for the delivery of schools capital programmes, is setting up a working group which will include representative bodies, to consider how best to allocate and target funding to ensure that this happens.
	I am also today announcing the 11 local authorities which will be joining the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme for the first time. BSF is the most ambitious public building programme for decades, revamping the entire secondary school estate. The authorities joining today are Brent, Darlington, Devon, Havering, Kingston, Croydon, Norfolk, Plymouth, Sefton, Wakefield, and Warrington. Another two-Lancashire and Tameside-will be starting the next phases of their BSF schemes. Planning and building on these schemes will begin between January and March 2010. These additions bring the total number of local authorities in England that are active in BSF to 96.
	The BSF projects announced today will join more than 1,000 individual rebuilding or renewal BSF projects already under way. Momentum has built quickly this year. One hundred and twenty-nine schools which have benefited from BSF investment are now open-more than double the number open in December 2008.
	
		
			 Primary Capital Allocations 
			 Barking and Dagenham 18,388,000 
			 Barnet 1,000,000 
			 Birmingham 24,319,000 
			 Blackpool 6,060,000 
			 Bolton 3,320,000 
			 Bournemouth 6,011,000 
			 Bradford 11,009,000 
			 Brent 14,766,000 
			 Brighton and Hove 5,700,000 
			 Camden 1,000,000 
			 Coventry 7,427,000 
			 Croydon 12,834,000 
			 Ealing 4,006,000 
			 Enfield 6,941,000 
			 Haringey 8,570,000 
			 Kingston upon Thames 8,185,000 
			 Lambeth 9,002,000 
			 Leeds 1,762,000 
			 Luton 15,504,000 
			 Manchester 6,808,000 
			 Newham 17,464,000 
			 North Somerset 1,000,000 
			 Peterborough 5,257,000 
			 Redbridge 3,460,000 
			 Richmond 3,327,000 
			 Sheffield 13,778,000 
			 Slough 8,986,000 
			 Southampton 1,000,000 
			 Southwark 12,063,000 
			 Swindon 6,374,000 
			 Thurrock 2,563,000 
			 Trafford 1,000,000 
			 Waltham Forest 4,234,000 
			 Wandsworth 17,902,000

Margaret Hodge: The Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003 (the "2003 Act") requires publishers to deliver a copy of every printed work published in the United Kingdom to the British Library and the other five legal deposit libraries upon their request. It also provides for regulations to be made which widen the scope of legal deposit to include non-print publications.
	The Legal Deposit Advisory Panel ('LDAP') was established in September 2005 following a ministerial undertaking made during the second reading of the 2003 Act in the House of Lords. It is an advisory panel of people appointed by Ministers and others acting in an ex-officio capacity, including representatives from the Legal Deposit Libraries, the publishing sector and independent members. Its primary purpose is to make recommendations on the extension of the legal deposit regime to non-print materials.
	LDAP has worked at arm's length from Government and developed its own work programme concentrating on three areas of non-print material for the collection and preservation of:
	a. UK Offline and Microforms Publications
	b. UK Online Publications, free of charge and without access restrictions
	c. Commercial and protected e-content (those publications requiring subscription, password, or some other compliance by users).
	To date they have provided a recommendation on (a) and (b) above.
	Lord Evans, during the Second Reading of the Legal Deposit Libraries in the House of Lords on 12 September 2003 made an undertaking that the initial set of regulations would be restricted to offline publications (a).
	However, the Legal Deposit Advisory Panel has recommended a self-regulated voluntary system of deposit in respect of these materials, with active requesting by libraries. We have considered the detailed proposals provided and are content to accept their recommendation, and will therefore not be making regulations in that area for the present time, although we reserve the right to monitor their collection, and should the need arise we will regulate accordingly under the powers available to us in the 2003 Act.
	We will shortly commence a full and detailed consultation on their recommendations for (b), with a view to producing regulations in that area. LDAP have started work on (c) and are due to report back to me on their progress in March 2010.

Mike O'Brien: The Government published a public consultation on proposals for an Innovation Pass pilot on 27 November 2009. The Innovation Pass will make selected innovative medicines available on the national health service for a time limited period from a ring-fenced budget while further evidence on their benefits is gathered.
	The Government announced the introduction of an Innovation Pass pilot in the "Office for Life Sciences Blueprint" published in July 2009. This brought together a coherent package of measures to maintain a competitive life sciences industry, an industry that is crucial to the United Kingdom from both a health and economic perspective. One of the key actions made a commitment to for the Department to introduce an "Innovation Pass" with NICE.
	The proposals for the Innovation Pass have been developed for medicines for small patient populations which have the potential to deliver improved patient outcomes but where data to demonstrate cost-effectiveness are so far limited. The pass will be a three-year initiative which will make selected innovative medicines available on the NHS in England for a time-limited period, prior to a NICE appraisal. The pass will be funded from a ring-fenced £25 million budget in 2010-11. Funding for future years will be determined in the context of the next spending review.
	It is important to ensure that the creation of the Innovation Pass does not in any way undermine the vital role of NICE in providing authoritative advice to the NHS on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of health interventions. This is why medicines covered by the Innovation Pass will still go through a NICE appraisal after a maximum of three years. NICE will also play a key part in running the process for the pass.
	The consultation seeks views on the Government proposals for the Innovation Pass pilot. The proposals will be revised in the light of the responses received and will also be reviewed over the first 12 months of the pilot.
	The Pass has the potential to bring benefit to NHS patients in England providing earlier access to innovative medicines for patients with the greatest need. At the same time, the Pass will facilitate the collection of further information to support a subsequent NICE appraisal, which will mean in the longer-term the relevant NICE appraisals will be based on stronger evidence.
	The consultation document has been placed in the Library and copies are available to hon. Members from the Vote Office.

Gordon Brown: The Commonwealth Heads of Government met in their 60th anniversary year in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, from 27 to 29 November.
	Her Majesty the Queen attended the biennial meeting for the 19th time in her role as Head of the Commonwealth. Leaders paid tribute to her dedication and commitment to the Commonwealth.
	The Commonwealth continues to show, through its diversity and by its actions, its continued importance as we work together to address the great global challenges.
	Many Commonwealth countries, such as Bangladesh, the Maldives and the Caribbean and Pacific Islands, are among those most vulnerable to climate change. So this was a unique opportunity for leaders of one third of the world's population to address the key issues which must be resolved in the Copenhagen agreement. The special session was addressed by Danish Prime Minister Rasmussen, who is organising next month's conference in Copenhagen, by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and by President Sarkozy.
	The Commonwealth agreed to the British proposal for a Copenhagen Launch Fund to provide immediate assistance to developing countries to tackle climate change. We agreed that this fund should start next year and rise to $10 billion annually in 2012, with a further scaling up of financial assistance to 2020.
	With 89 leaders now committed to attending Copenhagen, the Commonwealth backed the Danish Prime Minister's plan for a "comprehensive, substantial and operationally binding agreement in Copenhagen leading towards a full legally binding outcome no later than 2010" and so, while no one should be in any doubt how much there is still to do to secure an agreement that will limit global temperature rise to 2 degrees, the Commonwealth has helped to lay the foundations for this: an agreement on which our future prosperity and security depend.
	And it is fitting also, in its 60th year, for the Commonwealth to have made the biggest advance in its history towards free healthcare for its citizens. The agreement-the Commonwealth Health Compact-to remove user fees and provide healthcare free at the point of use could change the lives of millions and mean that mothers are no longer forced to choose between sending their children to the doctor or sending them to school. This is the first time in history that over 50 countries have collectively committed to free healthcare, an announcement with the potential to reach nearly one third of the world's population.
	I met the Secretary-General of the United Nations principally to discuss Afghanistan. We then held a joint press conference to announce the London conference on Afghanistan on 28 January 2010. I shall be making a Statement to Parliament about our policy on Afghanistan and Pakistan today.
	The Commonwealth echoed UK calls for a new social contract between the financial sector and the public to rebalance risk and reward and called on the IMF to look at all options in its forthcoming review.
	The Commonwealth also sent a strong message to the Government of Zimbabwe faithfully and effectively to implement the global political agreement. On this basis it looked forward to conditions being right for Zimbabwe to rejoin the Commonwealth in the future.
	Leaders agreed that Australia would host the 2011 summit.
	It was agreed to include a commitment to looking at strengthening the organisation and ensuring all of its democratic values and principles are upheld. With half of the Commonwealth's 2 billion citizens under the age of 25, we have a duty to be a forward looking group of nations. The Commonwealth continues to provide a unique forum in which to bring together developed and developing countries, large and small economies, to unite in recognition of their shared history and to determine their shared future.
	Copies of the concluding communiqué have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.